Around 2003 or so, an old boss and I took a side-trip on the way to a meeting to the church he attended. He was a bit younger than me, a devout evangelical Christian, a youth pastor and a pretty decent guy. He knew I didn’t share his particular brand of faith (full disclosure – [...]

Remember London’s call to its citizens to paw through each other’s trash, looking for suspicious materials? Or the numerous times in America politicians have told us in not so subtle ways to keep a watchful and suspicious eye on our neighbors? Now, thanks to the Illinois State Police, trash collectors have been deputized in the [...]

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin pointed out how radically our concept of civil liberties and privacy has changed over the years at a press conference when he helped unveil the BELIEVE system, another step towards a national ID card. The proposed legislation would require anyone who plans to work in the United States would have to [...]

I attempt to read as much as possible. Over the past few months, the bulk of that has been limited to mainly pixels, but like the month two years ago I spent hold up using a corporate bookstore as a library (which I highly recommend), I’ve decided I need to get back to reading ink [...]

Once again, the government is finding a way to use Twitter and other social networking platforms as tools to curtail civil liberties. Elliot Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger of Queens, New York were arrested on charges of hindering apprehension, criminal use of communication facility and possessing instruments of crime. The charges stem from Madison and Wallschlaeger [...]